FINAL: Sherbrooke 2, Saint John 5
SAINT JOHN – Mathieu Joseph put on quite
a show on Friday night at Harbour Station.
The 17-year old forward registered two
goals and three assists to lift the Saint John Sea Dogs to a 5-2 victory over
the Sherbrooke Phoenix.
Joseph wasn’t the only Sea Dog to shine
on this night. Samuel Dove-McFalls recorded a goal and three assists while Adam
Bateman had a goal and two assists. Justice Dundas scored Saint John’s other
goal.
Sebastien Auger fought the puck big time
in this game, bobbling it and misjudging shots on several occasions. He was
good enough to earn the win though, making 30 saves in the victory.
Sherbrooke goals came from Chase Harwell
and Raphael Lafontaine. Evan Fitzpatrick made 28 saves in the loss.
Dundas headed off for boarding at 7:37.
While shorthanded, Dove-McFalls carried the puck into the zone, cut towards the
crease and sent a pass over to a streaking Joseph. The Dogs forward made no mistake
and made it 1-0 Saint John at 8:08.
With Dundas still in the box, the
Phoenix tied the game at 9:31. Auger thought he was about the smother the puck
with his glove but Harwell poked it in, making it a 1-1 contest.
Bokondji Imama and Mikael Sabourin
dropped the gloves at 13:04. Imama ended up getting a five-minute penalty and
game misconduct for cross checking, which would eventually send Sherbrooke to a
three-minute power play. The Phoenix had some good pressure on the man
advantage but could not connect. Shots in the first – thanks to the power play
time - were 9-8 in favour of the visitors.
After a couple of good chances early in
the second period, Sherbrooke took a 2-1 lead at 9:37. A point shot was blocked
in the slot, allowing Lafontaine to spin and shoot a wrist shot past Auger.
The Sea Dogs were awarded their first
power play of the game at 16:00. On that man advantage, Dundas tipped a Bateman
point shot past Fitzpatrick to tie things up at 2-2.
Saint John went to another power play at
17:55. The Dogs couldn’t produce much while a man up, but with 2.6 seconds left
on the clock, Bateman slowly skated to the bottom of the circle and picked the
corner of Fitzpatrick’s net to give the home side a 3-2 lead after two. Shots
were 16-10 in favour of Saint John in the frame.
On a power play at 4:35 of the third
period, Dove-McFalls fed Joseph who was parked at the faceoff dot. Joseph
one-timed the puck past Fitzpatrick to give the Dogs a 4-2 advantage.
With 4:26 left in the third, Nathan Noel
managed to put the puck in while crashing the crease area. The goal ended up
not counting and Noel was given a goaltender interference penalty, giving the
Phoenix a late power play opportunity. Sherbrooke had some pressure applied but
couldn’t generate many quality scoring chances.
Dove-McFalls hit Sherbrooke’s empty net
with 20 seconds remaining to give the Dogs a 5-2 victory. Shots were 13-9 in
favour of Sherbrooke in the period and 33-32 Saint John overall.
